Method of making vehicle inner door panels



. Nov. 4; 1947. G'. TRAU VETTER 2,430,437

METHOD OF MAKING VEHICLE INNER DOOR PANELS Fi led March 19 1941 FICILINVENTOR BY I George Trau'kveter ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 4, 1947 METHOD OF MAKING VEHICLE INNER DOOR PANELS GeorgeTrautvetter, Philadelphia Pa assignor to The Budd Company, Philadelphia,Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania ApplieationMarch 19, 1941, Serial No.384,075

1 Claim.

The invention relates to a method for-making a stamping, especially ofsheet metal. More particularly, the invention relates to a method ofmaking a panel surrounding an opening which opening coverspnly a part ofsaid panel,- and which panel is provided alongits outer margins withtransversely extending and comparatively wide flanges. Such panels areoutstandingly used for automobile doors, where they form at the sametime the inner wall and the door frame.

The outstanding object of the invention is the saving of material neededfor the manufacture of the indicated type of panels, while. retainingthe well-known advantages of the so-called monopiece construction inwhich the marginal flanges form a continuous frame.

The object of the invention is principally achieved by providing in ablank an opening which extends considerably beyond the region of anopening to be surrounded by the panel in its final form, the margins ofsaid opening being preferably about equidistant from the outer marginsof the blank; by then die drawing from the blank the stamping having themarginal flanges, during which operation, the marginal portions of theblank are firmly kept between margin holders and the material for theflanges is substantially or at least to a considerable extent drawn fromthe material of the blank surrounding the open-.

ing; and by finally connecting the stamping with a member whichseparates the openingof the final product from the rest of the openinginitially provided in the blank.

Further objects and advantages as well as the details of the inventionwill become apparent from the embodiments shown in the attached drawingswhen read togetherwith the following description thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view of a piece of sheet material such as sheet metal.

Figure 2 is a plan View of a blank cut from the piece shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a piece cut out from the blank shown inFigure 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view of three members of pieces cut from the pieceshown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic section through a set of drawing dies and ablank therein before the start of the drawing operation proper.

Figure 6 is a section similar to Figure .5, yet after the end of the diedrawing operation and before the withdrawal of the upper die and theremoval of the stamping.

Figure 7 is a section of a part of the stamping shown within the die inFigure 6 and indicating the trimming of the outer'margin of thestamping.

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an inner door panelcomposed of a frame formed in accordance with Figures 1, 2, 5, 6 and '7and supplemented by some of the pieces shown in Figure 4.

Figure 9 is an elevation of a slightly modified form of a door made inaccordance with the invention.

In making panels of the indicated type, either one of two principalknown ways are usually followed.

The one known way consists in forming the framework and the remainder ofthe inner panel of a number of rails-and transverse braces which arethen united, such as by Welding, into one integral structure. Thedisadvantage of this manufacturing method resides in the need for a setof dies for each single member entering into the final structure andtherein that the dimensions and the form of the ultimate article dependslargely upon the skill andthe diligence of the workman who puts themembers together. Moreover, thiswayv of manufacturing is expensive due'to the time needed for handling the separate members and due to themany connections which have to be made.

The other known and widely practiced way consists in stamping from onesingle blank the entire inner panel with marginal flanges constitutingdo not depend any more on the skill and the. diligence ofworkmen butexclusively on the form of the dies which can, of course, be madeaccurately,- so that no subsequent fitting operations are required when,for instance, the panel is a door panel which must fit into a dooropening.

Formanufacturing panels in accordance with the second way, comparativelylarge blanks are required, -.this not only owing to the extent of thefinished panel as such, but also because the material for the marginalflanges has to be drawn in from the marginal portions of the blankespecially in the regions remote from the opening in the panel. Indeed,the blank must be so wide at the outset that after the final formingoperation comparatively wide marginal sections have to be cutaway so asto bring the outer margins of the stamping into the desired finalconfiguration.

From the following description of an embodimentof the invention it willbe seen that the procedure according to the invention allows the useofsmaller blanks than hitherto needed.

Figures .1 to 8 illustrate diagrammatically the manufacture of the innerpanel and frame of an automobile. door which is wider at the bottom thanat the top. A strip of sheet material shown in Figure 1 is out along.the. dotted lines 15 and it into a number of substantially identicalblanks H. A piece I8 is then cut out of the blank ll,

3 providing in the latter an opening 19, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.The out-out blank l8 is suitably out along the dotted line 20 of Figure3 into a number of pieces 2|, 22 and 23 shown separately in Figure 4,for a purpose to be described later. The width of the portions of theblank l1 surrounding the opening 19 is throughout of about the sameorder.

The blank I1 is then placed in and formed by drawing dies asdiagrammatically illustrated by Figures and 6. The set of dies comprisesa matrix 24, a margin holder 25 and patrix 26. The margins of the blankI! are firmly gripped between the die members 24, 25, and sliding of theblank is effectively counteracted by the provision of registering ridges27 and grooves 28 on these members. While the blank is clamped betweenthe die members 25 and 26, the patrix is forced down until it reachesthe position shown in Figure 6. This results in the formation of anangular flange 29, 30 around the opening 19. The material for thetransversely extending flange portion 29 is drawn from the material ofthe blank around the opening 19, its supply from the outer portions ofthe blank being prevented or at least limited by the margin holdingmeans 25, 21, 28.

After the stamping leaves the'dies shown in Figures 5 and 6, it may besubjected to further forming operations as they are usual in the diedrawing art, and the margins are trimmed as shown in Figure 7 by cuttingoff the outer marginal portion 3| which had been held by ridge 2'! andgroove 28, leaving a narrow marginal flange 32 in the original plane ofthe blank 11.

The portions .29, 30 and 32 of the stamping form together a closedfigure door frame generally Z- shaped in cross section. The transversewebs 29 constitute the jamb portions of the door rails and the flanges32 constitute the usual overlap flanges.

The strips 2 1 and 22 which are out from the blank I8 are connected witheach other and with flanges 36 of the door frame in the arrangementillustrated in Figure 8. The member 21 defines the lower edge of thewindow opening and constitutes preferably the lock and window regulatorpanel whereas the member 22 constitutes a reinforcement. In some casesthe member 22 may support a portion of the lock and/or the windowregulator.

' Flanges 30 and the parts 2! and 22 form together the inner door panelbelow the window opening. Around the window opening 33, flange 30 isgiven any appropriate cross section as is usual for automobile doors soas to guide the edges of the window pane or so as to hold a separateremovable window retainer. These last mentioned features are sowell-known that their illustration appears superfluous.

The remaining part 23 of the cut-out blank I8 is not needed for the doorshown in Figure 7 and may be used for any appropriate purpose.

The new method of manufacture and the new structural featurts may, ofcourse, be used'for different types of doors. One of such other types ofdoors is shown in Figure 9. This door differs from the door shown inFigure 7 therein that it is recessed at 34 for the rear wheel housingand that a different type of inner panel members 35, 36 and 3'! areemployed. These members may, of course, again be supplied by the blankwhich is cut out from the original blank serving for the formation ofthe door frame.

While two specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, ithas to be understood that the invention is liable to many modifications.The invention may not only be applied to automobile doors, but also toother portions of vehicle body walls. Moreover, the portion cut out mayunder some circumstances more advantageously be used for the productionof parts unrelated to the door or the like and the supplementary innerpanel members may in such cases be derived from another source.

The modifications specifically referred to and all other modificationsfalling within the spirit of the invention are intended to be covered bythe appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a method of making a vehicle wall panel and frame such as an innerdoor panel and frame, which panel and frame comprises in its finishedstate integrally two major portions: an upper portion surrounding awindow opening on three sides and a lower portion; said window openingextending close to said three sides but being spaced a considerabledistance from the fourth side of the panel, said lower portion extendingover a large part of the area of the panel and defining the fourth sideof said opening; said panel being furthermore provided withcomparatively wide flanges extending substantially uninterruptedly alongthe outer edges and around the corners of the panel and transversely tothe main plane thereof, said flanges constituting frame members; themethod comprising: (a) The step of forming in a blank anoversize-opening, being not only generally coextensive with said windowopening but covering also a considerable part of the area of said lowerpanel portion so that the oversize opening is surrounded by portions ofthe blank which all have a width of about the same order; (1)) Thefurther step of forming by die drawing said transverse flanges bydrawing material of the blank outwardly from the regions surroundingsaid oversize opening while holding the outer margins of the blankfirmly between margin holders; and (c) The final step of connecting saidformed blank with a separately formed member which later forms aconsiderable part of said lower panel portion and constitutes the lowermargin of said window opening.

GEORGE. TRAU'I'VETTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,720,913 McDowell July 16, 19291,569,725 Doehler et al. Jan. 12, 1926 1,876,589 Ball Sept. 13, 19322,176,192 Widman Oct. 17, 1939 1,804,607 Groehn May 12, 1931 2,205,555Krogh May 14, 1940 1,706,649 Breneman Mar. 26, 1929 1,680,467 D/IathesonAug. 14, 1928 2,002,097 Peterson May 21, 1935 2,198,069 Widman Apr. 23,1940 1,697,517 Sullivan Jan. 1, 1929 1,808,731 Ireland June 2, 19312,033,900 Ireland Mar. 10, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date361,069 Great Britain Nov. 19, 1931

